St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-12-07
RUSSIAN EXECUTIONS.

How Two MOhammedans Were
Put to Death---Seven Out OF a
Lot Reprieved at the Last Mo-
ment---N ashed in the Sea After
Death.
| referred the other day to the con
domination to the scaffold of fourteen
peasants of Penza as an illustration of
the permanent and general character of
the severe measures, which were orig
inally intended by the Russian govern
ment to be temporary and local, for the
suppression of purely political crimes,
says st. Petersburg correspondent of
the London Times. But ordinary Grim
inals are now being executed i'll all
parts of the empire. This is an
innovation i'll the Russian criminal code,
and is opposed to the religious feelings
of the masses. 1t was owing to the re-
pugnance felt on this score and the
commiSeration expressed by the lower
orders for political prisoners during
their professions through the capital to
the scatfold that public executions for
political crimes were stopped and the
greatest secrecy maintained with re-
gard to them. The authorities, how
ever, now make a distinction in this re-
Spect between political and ordinary
criminals, the latter being publicly exc
cuted.
The following is an account of an
execution of two MOhammedans in the
Caucasus. Great lawlessness prevails
in the Caucasus, and travelling in that
interesting country is by no means I'M
attended with danger both to life and
property. Especially does this apply to
he northern part, where the people,
notably the hill tribes of Daghestan,
have not yet become reconciled to Rus
sian rule and its civiliZing influences.
The men in question were natives of
Terrell, which borders on DagheStan,
and their crime was highway robbery
with murder. They belonged to a band
consisting of nine men, all of whom
were condemned to be hanged. The
criminals. secured by letters, were
brought to the place of execution under
military guard, with drum and fife
music, and were accompanied by mol
lab. The sentence of death was form
ally read and seven of them obtained Il
reprieve. their sentence being committed
to hard labor i'll the mines for life.
These prisoners were then marched off
the ground. leaving only two brothers
who were to suffer death.
After the mollah had exhOrted the
condemned they requested that he
would read out of the Koran the prayers
for the dead. and this request was ac-
ceded to. They then took leave of the
mollah and embraced each other. after
which their letters were taken off by
the eXecutioner, who put ShrOudS OIL
them and led them to the Scaffold. They
remained hanging for the space of half
an hour, and their bodies were then
handed over to their relatives for bur
ial. During the execution these rela-
tiyes and friends of the condemned
men were busily engaged i'll cutting up
on the spot the carcass of an OK for dis
tribution among the spectators, in ac-
cOrdance with the custom prevailing
among the mOuntaineerS of the Terek
region.
The bodies of the executed men were
then placed face down on the ground,
and after being washed i'll the seattle
execution took place on the SeaShOre-
they were robed in new shrouds and
placed on arbaS (native carts for con
veyance to their native village in the
mountains of Terek. The execution,
which was witnessed by a large and
motley crowd. took place at the town OF
PetrofSk, small and highly picturesque
sheltered harbor in the Caspian sea.
Should capital punishment in Russia
become general, as seems likely, it
would be well for the authorities to in
troduce less primitive and more pain
less mode of carrying it into effect.
The last batch of political prisoners eX
ecuttd in public in St. Petersburg were
simply strangled by the weight of their
bodies. The condemned was mounted
on wooden stool and a moose put
around his neck, the rope being at its
full tension. On a given signal the
stool was kicked away. and the body
swung round, the struggles of the tor
tured wretches continuing in some
cases, according to those who timed
their sufferings, for over ten minutes.